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ford motor company has taken a dangerous step backward in their present policy
regarding the fire integrity of their crown victoria, lincoln town car and mercury
grand marquis. (remember the pinto gas tanks?)

their present stance is one copied from general motors 1973-87 side-saddle gas
tank pickups. namely one that resembles -- 'it ain't broke if we don't
say its broke.'

scary
is the fact that the national traffic safety administration (nhtsa) fails to
bring them up short, again following the path of the gm side-saddle gas tank
pickups. if these folks don't do their job of regulating and watch-dogging
for us, then who can do it?

thus far,
18 police officers have been killed in rear-end collisions where fires have
erupted involving the crown victorias. after a poor response from both
nhtsa and ford, some police departments began, on their own, outfitting police
cars with safety shields to protect the gas tanks.

then,
"the company took a further step deciding to offer fire suppression systems
in the 2005 model of its police interceptors, the kinds of systems typically
found in armored personnel carriers. the automaker said it was simply
making a safe car safer." (see detroit free press, ford
insists cars safe, but cops keep dying, by jennifer dixon, free press staff
writer.)

could
this possibly be because police departments threatened to boycott the purchase
of ford vehicles if the company did not address the problem seriously?
and where does this leave the average consumer? in very much the same
boat as the gm pickup truck debacle. hung out to dry, hoping that you
are not in a collision that could take your life -- not by the collision --
but by the ensuing flames caused by a ruptured gas tank.

general
motors paid out $495 million in a serious of lawsuits over fiery crashes in
their ck pickups. a problem that they felt would cost less to ignore and
stonewall (and pay as they went for the lives they shattered) than to fix.
they were wrong! they are still wrong! and ford should be well
advised to take note of their problem and handle it accordingly.